The CORE7 instructor took a leave of absence in September to start nursing school, and I wasn't really a fan of the other instructors they brought in to teach similar classes in his time slot. With school out, he has resumed leading the CORE7 class for the summer. My quads and hamstrings were so sore from squat and RDL yesterday, so the mountain climbers and knee tucks with the gliders was pure torture!

Trip did 10x100 @ 2:00 BEST AVG. I came in planning to do resistance work so I passed on that set, but I constructed my main set so we could race on a couple of the 100s. I felt awful on the fast stuff. Great for 10-20 meters after I dropped the chute, but then it all fell apart.

AM LCM Solo @ LRRC "Trying to get a feel for the water again"
PM LCM @ UALR "End of School Year Invitational" Day #2

So all my travels brings me finally to today! After flight delays put me back in Little Rock close to 10:00 last night, and with plans to race Saturday afternoon, I needed to hit the water early to loosen up, so I was up at 6:30 this morning for a wake up swim.

400 FR - 4:43.70 (1:06.80/1:11.62/1:13.02/1:12.26) - Can't be disappointed with this swim. Given the week off and feeling under the weather still. I lost my walls on the last 150 meters, but I am definitely glad I swam this morning. I already felt myself catching the water better this afternoon than I was this morning. I was only 3.8 seconds off my lifetime best from last summer.

AM Open Water w/ wife, sister-in-law, and (future) brother-in-law @ off the coast of Nassau, The Bahamas

Going to approximate the distance here. After docking in the morning in Nassau, we took a catamaran out to open water off the coast of Athol Island for some snorkeling. Spent about 50 minutes in the water. Lots of colorful fish all over the place. Crystal clear water with visibility down to the sea floor (about 12-14 feet).

Due to the timing of the snorkeling expedition, and needing to retrieve my kids to try and get them to nap in the afternoon, I did not have a chance to head into downtown Nassau and try swimming at the LCM pool there.

Total: ~1000 meters

Wednesday 5/15 "Vacation Day #5"

AM Open Water Solo @ Castaway Cay, The Bahamas

My wife and I decided to run the Castaway Cay 5k race. Mostly so we could debark the ship 30 minutes ahead of everyone else! Would highly recommend anyone wanting to maximize time on the beach/island and shorten wait time in lines to do this. They don't really care if you run/jog/walk 50 steps around the first bend, then turn around and run/jog/walk back and collect your finisher's medal. Worth it to get out ahead of the crowds. Anyways, after the race (I finished in a respectable 25:30...I say "respectable" because I had not run or run a race in almost a year, and it was VERY hot and humid...flat course but NOT ideal weather conditions) I headed to the beach to get a swim in.

For those of you who might read this, and want to be able to swim while on a Disney cruise, this is the place to get a long swim in. I only had time for a short 25 minute cool down swim post race, and got 1200 meters in before I had to call it quits. The beach area has ropes dividing the areas. The area closest to the beach is for waders, "noodlers" :P, and for us swimmers. You cannot go into the next zone without a snorkeling vest (to designate you as so to the lifeguards). I swam in a straight line from the beach out to the farthest point where the lifeguard stand was, then did a slight turn and headed back to the beach on the opposite end from where I started. The lane rope is handy here for swimming straight! Google Mapped the distance at ~ 300 meters one way. I swam down, took a minute break, then swam back, then exited to get some water (the sea water was killing me). I then entered the water and repeated that all again. I could have kept going as long as I wanted if I had time. I was not bothered. It might seem boring, but there was some cool wildlife under the waves to look at, including a giant stingray that went right underneath me (if he had caught me a half second earlier or later, my underwater recovery would have grazed him), so that broke up the monotony. Also, the beach is sheltered from most of the tide/waves, so the swimming is really only as rough as the size of the crowds in the area you plan to swim! I estimate the water depth at about 5 feet for most of the arc of my path, only getting shallow as i got very close to the beach!

Total: 1200 meters

A SIDE NOTE ON CRUISE SHIP POOLS:

Every cruise is, I am sure, a little different. I am sure the set up and layout of each of the four Disney Cruise ships is different as well. My family was on Dream. On this boat, there are no pools, ZERO, that are swim-able. The "Mickey" pool and "Donald" pool are both too shallow. Even taking several forumites' suggestions about attaching a stretch cord and swimming in place would be useless here. The water is just too shallow. So anyone going on a Disney Cruise, any of your swimming is going to have to happen OFF BOAT! Do try the water slide though, it was very cool (takes you out over the edge of the boat and basically you are above open water) and is even cooler when done at night. Don't waste your time on it if the line wait time is more than 10 minutes though. It is cool, but not that cool.

All in all, got more swimming in than I thought I would when I actually got to Orlando. Been fighting a sinus infection all week, and I get motion sickness, so I was in a perpetual state of discomfort on the boat.

Finally got to the pool this morning. Going to call the length I swam about 35 meters given stroke count. Got 20 lengths easy FR and then 4x 3x35 k/dr/sw RIMO.

Side note: Disney World is NOT the happiest place on earth. My two children spent the majority of the time over the last two days at the park crying and complaining about (in no particular order): the heat, having to walk, getting wet (when it rained), not enough characters to meet, too many characters to meet (sensory overload), etc. Anyways, waiting on bus to head to cruise ship. Still hoping to get a swim in tomorrow in Nassau.

So glad to be getting away from Disney World.

Total: 1300 (when you count paddling around to help my kids in the pool as well)

Well I had planned to double today, but it proved fortunate that I attempted the double, because around noon, heavy storms rolled in. I had still planned to swim in the rain, but then came the thunder and lightning. So my double turned into a single. But honestly, my legs have been tired all afternoon from this morning's workout, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise!

200 FR - 2:13.55 (1:04.35/1:09.20) - Felt pretty good on this swim. I was about .4 off what I went shaved and tapered last July. Splits for that swim were 1:03/1:10. So I see where I had that easier front end speed last year, but I was still out of shape and hurt coming home. Today, I was out a little slower, but definitely felt more in control on the back half.

200 BR - 2:44.21 (1:18.90/1:25.31) - So this was my first time racing any breaststroke since last June (when I raced the 100 and went 1:19), and the first time in over six years that I had contested the 200M BR! As can be seen, I was actually faster on my front 100 than I was last year when I raced the 100. It felt really good to be racing BR again, but still not sure how long my groin will hold up.

Total: 2700

I was pleasantly surprised with my overall performance this morning. I was out until 1:30 am at a Cinco de Mayo party, and while I don't go in for the whole "getting drunk" thing anymore, I still drank quite a bit over a long period of time given that I planned to swim this morning. I think the going to bed super late hurt me more than anything, but since this was not a taper level meet, I wasn't overly concerned with my pre-meet ritual!

After not getting more than 150 meters warm down after my 1500 on Friday, and being out late after the meet, I scratched the 200 FL today and then swung by the LRRC on my way to a Cinco de Mayo party to get a proper "swim out" from the meet yesterday. Will see how I feel tomorrow and decide whether to race the 200 FR and 200 BR.

50 FL - 29.45 - I entered the 50 FR and decided to do it FL just because. Felt alright for 30 meters, then it started to go south. But that is to be expected, because I have not raced LCM FL in 6 years.

1500 FR - 18:43.87 -
1:08.72/1:13.44/1:13.83/1:14.97
1:14.95/1:15.12/1:15.08/1:15.81
1:16.43/1:16.32/1:16.25/1:16.36
1:16.69/1:16.69/1:13.21 - Swim felt great. I was 4 FL kicks off every wall (absolutely torched the club kids on either side of me off the walls). A best time by 18 seconds.

Swimming in a local USA-S meet this weekend, and with the yardage and work I put in on the front half of the week, combined with the amount of swimming I will be doing Friday through Sunday, I figured an easy day was necessary!